


Dance With Me

by allofthecaffeine



Category: Stargate - All Media Types, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Author Knows Zilch About Romance, But It's Daniel So, Character Study, F/M, Gen, I guess???, I mean, Or maybe during, Post-Season/Series 10, Stargate Fic Exchange 2020, There Is Definitely Some Introspection, What Else Do We Expect, Who Knows?, certainly not me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:48:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24212392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allofthecaffeine/pseuds/allofthecaffeine
Summary: A soft sigh caught Daniel’s attention, the noise too close and too clear to have come from inside. He turned his head a little further. A few feet to his right, pose mirroring his own as she leaned against the railing, stood Vala. Her pale blue eyes looked like quicksilver in the moonlight, face open and content as she gazed up at the stars she’d once called home. It was a good look on her, Daniel thought, remembering the guarded, acerbic woman who’d tried to steal thePrometheustwo years before. That mask, that blanket of flirtatious indifference she’d worn like a shield, had long since fallen away to reveal the person beneath.
Relationships: Daniel Jackson & Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson & Vala Mal Doran, Daniel Jackson/Vala Mal Doran, Samantha "Sam" Carter & Daniel Jackson & Vala Mal Doran & Cameron Mitchell & Jack O'Neill & Teal'c, Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill
Comments: 12
Kudos: 32





	Dance With Me

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! This was my entry into brightclam's Stargate Fic Exchange on Tumblr this year, and I thought I'd add it to my eclectic little library of fics here on AO3.
> 
> For Nicole <3

Daniel breathed in the cool night air. **  
**

It wasn’t often that they got to have moments like this; SG-1, together, off-base and in good spirits. He remembered trying to make team nights a thing, way back when, but the unpredictability of their schedule had made any sort of weekly event pretty much impossible. They’d managed a few dozen or so each year, interspersed between missions and, uhm, deaths, but it’d been a while since they’d all been in one place long enough to get together.

Sam’s place had become the default venue after Jack moved to Washington. She was the only member of the team who had enough space for their ever-expanding numbers, and since Jack usually stayed with her when he was in town, it was honestly the most convenient for all parties involved. Her awesome, Carter-improved sound system didn’t harm matters, either.

It was on her deck that Daniel found himself standing that evening. The sun had long since gone down, the night sky clear and bright above him. Bowie and the Rolling Stones drifted out through the open sliding door, and the barbecue still radiated heat from Jack’s attempts at dinner. It was nice, he thought. It felt like home.

Snippets of conversation floated out with the music, and Daniel smiled, amused. It happened every time they got together, like clockwork - Cam and Teal’c _maturely debating_ which movie to watch. He didn’t know why they still let them choose. Habit, maybe. Or the entertainment value.

“… on the contrary, Colonel Mitchell,” he caught Teal’c saying, “I believe _The Time Machine_ to be of a far greater calibre.”

“Ain’t nothing a higher calibre than _Jaws_ , man. Imma forget you even said that…”

Daniel huffed out a laugh under his breath as the discussion continued. Cam had fit right into their patchwork family, bickering and swapping jokes like he’d been with them since the beginning. Things had been a little awkward at first, sure, but that hadn’t lasted past their first night off-base. There was a lot of beer involved, Daniel remembered, and an incident involving two Lieutenant Colonels, cooking oil, and a very avoidable fire. That night, more than anything, had cemented Cam’s position on the team. Also, Cam’s ban from going near Sam’s stove. Even Jack seemed to get along well with the other man, Daniel acknowledged as he sought out his friend’s voice amongst the noise from inside. In saying that, Jack had been getting along with everyone better since his transfer from the SGC. He claimed it was being able to escape the ever-increasing weirdness of the base. 

Daniel knew better.

A sharp squawk from the direction of the kitchen had Daniel shifting his gaze to the right, through the window that looked out from above Sam’s sink. There was the man in question, he noted, waving a tea towel between his raised hands and smirking down at Sam. Daniel watched as Jack lowered his arms to snake them around the Colonel’s waist. That was the real reason he seemed lighter, he thought; no longer directly in the same chain of command, Sam and Jack had finally allowed themselves to put a name to that _thing_ between them. He sniggered as Jack leaned down and whispered something in Sam’s ear, the light catching on her engagement ring as she twisted around to whack his shoulder. His friend had been worried about rushing things, going too fast and scaring her away. Daniel thought it was about freaking time. He’d been watching them dance around each other for years, stealing innocent touches and loaded glances when they thought no one could see. It was nice to see them together. Happy. The ease with which they’d fallen together… he remembered the Quantum Mirror, and thought for a moment that maybe the universe had a constant after all.

A soft sigh caught Daniel’s attention, the noise too close and too clear to have come from inside. He turned his head a little further. A few feet to his right, pose mirroring his own as she leaned against the railing, stood Vala. Her pale blue eyes looked like quicksilver in the moonlight, face open and content as she gazed up at the stars she’d once called home. It was a good look on her, Daniel thought, remembering the guarded, acerbic woman who’d tried to steal the _Prometheus_ two years before. That mask, that blanket of flirtatious indifference she’d worn like a shield, had long since fallen away to reveal the person beneath. 

A particularly raunchy line of music drifted out from inside, and Daniel watched her lips quirk up into a smirk. The innocent wonder with which she’d first looked upon Sam’s stereo system all those months ago had never really worn away, often contrasting sharply with her more questionable music taste. Daniel wouldn’t have her any other way.

As if hearing this, Vala turned to face him. He refused to feel embarrassed for being caught, raising an eyebrow in retaliation to the smirk she sent his way.

“Admiring the view?”

“Admiring the impressive amount of leaves stuck in your hair,” he responded with a smirk of his own, “seriously, you were supposed to help Jack prune the roses, not make off with half the bush.”

It wasn’t a baseless excuse, either. Daniel shifted his weight off of his forearms, reaching out with one hand to pluck a leafy twig from her left pigtail. A mistake, he noted, as their new position had his fingers brushing dangerously close to her cheek. The fine dusting of freckles there looked darker in the moonlight. Vala tried to meet his eyes. He swallowed. 

They stayed like that for a moment; his hand near her face, her eyes searching for his with a glint he didn’t let himself identify. He wasn’t expecting it when she straightened, stepping away from the railing so his hand dropped back to his side. Her smile was different now. He didn’t let himself think about that, either.

“Dance with me.”

Huh? 

Daniel floundered for a second. Sure, there was music, and, yeah, they had the space, but… dance? She was still looking up at him with that expression he wouldn’t think about, eyes soft and warm with fondness. He didn’t want to go any deeper into what any of that could mean. She’d never asked him to dance before, not out of the blue like that. Honestly, he didn’t quite know what to say.

“What?”

_Oh, well done, Jackson. Very eloquent. Ever the linguist._

“Dance, Daniel. You move your feet a little, sway to the music. It’s fun.” That, the ribbing, was familiar territory for them. He could work with that. Draw it out, vanish that strange expression of hers with banter and sarcasm.

“I know what it is, Vala.”

_There. That’s better. Little less fondness, maybe. Up the exasperation._

“Then there’s no reason for you to say ‘no’.”

Well. She had him there. Out the window with the banter plan, then. He could have kept going with all the reasons that dancing on Sam’s deck, in the dark, in the middle of October should not be on the agenda, but he knew the fight wouldn’t be worth it. Vala was nothing if not stubborn when she wanted something. Exhaling a short, affectionate laugh, he pushed himself away from the railing and offered his arm in invitation. Her grin was blinding as she skipped forward, hands clasping loosely behind his neck. Daniel couldn’t help letting slip a little grin of his own. Sometimes he didn’t know why he fought it, this unconventional friendship of theirs. If anything, he should have been overjoyed that they’d moved past their rather rocky beginning. He let his own hands settle at her waist.

The music changed tempo, and Vala giggled when the new beat threw off his rhythm. His squashed toes were almost worth it to hear her laugh like that. Daniel wondered, looking down at the carefree expression that seemed to be taking over her features, if she’d ever done anything like this before; danced in the dark for no reason, letting the world drift away on the breeze. He twirled her around with a flourish, obviously catching her by surprise. Her child-like excitement at the simple gesture made both his stomach swoop and his heart hurt a little. No, he thought. Knowing what he knew about her past, he didn’t think she’d ever had the chance to throw caution to the wind and simply _be_.

The music changed again. It was a slower song this time, something he recognised from Teal’c’s musical education a few years prior. Vala’s hands slid down to grip the lapel’s of his jacket. He drew her closer just a little, her head falling forward to rest tentatively against his chest. 

They continued to sway.

It really hit him, then, how much things had changed between them since she’d joined the SGC. He remembered the days immediately following her arrival, when she’d clapped that damn bracelet on his wrist and tied their lives together. Back then, her constant presence had grated on his every nerve. He’d wanted her gone almost desperately and made sure everyone knew it. It wasn’t until they were torn apart in Ver Ager that he realized he’d grown fond of her. Watching the flames engulf her at the podium, hearing her scream… he’d never felt anything like it. He remembered how it felt to hold her, afterwards, her burnt and blackened body cradled against his own. The overwhelming relief he’d felt when the Prior brought her back to life still floored him.

Things changed between them after that. Nothing happened overnight, of course, but the little things had bothered him a lot less. He’d gradually come to accept, even welcome her presence in his workspace; they way she alternated between actually helping and doing her own thing in the corner. Even her constant nagging for breaks and snacks and for him to _get a life already, darling, I get out more often than you do and I’m confined to the base_ had become less of an annoyance, and more of a welcome distraction.

The very things that used to irk him to no end were often the same traits he now found most endearing. Those ridiculous sparkly clips of hers she’d somehow convinced Landry to let her wear in the field, they way she’d insist on painting her nails in his office mere inches from priceless alien artifacts, and the care she’d take not to spill a drop of polish. When she’d first shown up at the base, and even for a little bit after, the way she invaded both his personal and professional space had been maddening. Now, though… it didn’t feel right without her presence. Losing her again a couple of months ago had really thrown him. The knowledge that she was still out there, still alive, had kept him camped out in his office the entire time she’d been gone. It had been too still in there without her, the dust settling over her scattered magazines, her hidden pastries going stale. He’d missed the way she’d press against his side while he worked, poking with a touch meant to annoy him mercilessly without inflicting any damage. The chill of her absence had nearly crippled him. 

(He let himself wonder, sometimes, late at night when the memories caught up with him, if Sam had felt the same way when Jack was trapped on Edora. Let himself poke tentatively at his feelings before deciding, every time, that he was making mountains out of molehills, and should really get more sleep one of these days)

It’s in that moment that he realised the warmth he felt, swaying on his best friend’s deck, had nothing to do with the heat of the cooling barbecue and everything to do with the woman in his arms. He dipped down, pressing his lips against the crown of her head. His eyes closed at her little sigh as she pressed in that much closer. Suddenly, without warning, everything clicked. The thought slammed into him like a freight train. It broke down all of his mental barricades, pushed its way through the memories of smiles and touches he’d never let himself dwell on.

_Oh my god, I love her._

Well, crap.

**Author's Note:**

> Daniel, Daniel, Daniel.... *sigh*  
> .  
> Come chat with me on Tumblr @allofthecaffiene (yes I'm lazy, but if it's not broke don't fix it)


End file.
